Yay, yay, yay!! I am really excited for today's episode! And maybe it's because I get pretty dorky when it comes to all things marketing related, but I think this week's episode is going to get you ready for all the fun to come in 2021. This week, I'm continuing the theme of reflecting on the past year and am sharing the marketing techniques that worked for me in 2020.
Because of the crazy year 2020 has been, we knew that the world of ecommerce was going to look pretty different than in years past. But I won't lie…I was still pretty astonished after comparing sales from Cyber Monday in past years to Cyber Monday this year.
Today, I'm going to be telling you what you need to know about making the best out of your marketing efforts and what it takes to grow your business.
(I'll let you in on a secret: your email list matters!)
I'm also sharing some goals that I'll be taking into the new year and what I'm looking forward to in 2021.
So be sure to keep on reading for the TOP five marketing techniques that were needle movers in my business, or if you're still working on wrapping up those last-minute Christmas gifts, then take a listen to this week's episode below!
Cyber Monday Recap
Like I said, Cyber Monday stats this year blew me away. Also, I'm gonna apologize in advance for the geekiness to come because I just love crunching the numbers, and I think it will give you that extra boost of confidence to know that you need to get your products out into the world.
According to Bloomberg, in 2018, there were 7.9 Billion (Yes, with a B) dollars spent in ecommerce. In 2019, it was 9.4 Billion, and get ready for the drumroll…
2020 brought 12.7 Billion in sales to ecommerce!
Okay if you're like me, the numbers don't mean too much without some context, so let me help you out there. Bank of America reported that over the last 10-year span, we went from 5.6% of retail sales to about 16%. So we're looking at about a 10% growth over 10 years. Then in the middle of March, the world shuts down. People are forced to start buying online. And in eight weeks alone we went from 16% to 27%. So we had an 11% growth in eight weeks.
That is absolutely mind-boggling. I say all of this to remind you that NOW is the time to get into online sales. People buying online will get bigger and better, and I want you to get going while the iron is hot.
Ecommerce is so strong right now, so I think it's extra important that I share my best marketing techniques with you today!
Top 5 Marketing Techniques That Crushed In 2020
#1: Solve A Problem
This is a marketing technique staple, but so many business owners forget it. They think the hard part is building the business. Nope. The difficulty comes when you're trying to attract customers to your product. And the best way to attract customers is by helping them solve a problem.
Let me tell you a little story. Ask any teenage girl about the hottest accessory around, and I promise their response will be an in-depth review of their scrunchie collection. They are everywhere. And when I say everywhere, I mean all over your bathroom, kitchen counters, dog toy basket, etc.
I knew I couldn't be the only one struggling with this added clutter, so we decided to SOLVE the problem by providing canisters to put scrunchies in. And we ended up selling out!
I mentioned that these canisters were originally meant for cookies, but those just didn't sell as well, so we repurposed them for the scrunchie issue. Pretty cool, right?
#2 : Grow and Engage Your Instagram (A.K.A. work with others and get your D.M.'s poppin!)
In the spirit of the holidays, this marketing technique is extra fun! The key to upping your engagement online is through giveaways. This has worked in my businesses, and I've seen it work in so many others, too, so I definitely think it's worth giving a shot.
Let me give you a concrete example. All right, so I got together with eight other stores on Instagram. And we all took a picture. So it was a collage of nine different small business owners. And what we said in the post was, “Hey, we've got something for you; we all want to give you something,”. Whether it was a coupon code, a freebie, or something to help people feel loved.
But the only way they can get it is if they went to direct messages and told us that they wanted it. Another piece that we added is that we asked them to like all of the store's Instagram accounts that were participating. So not only did we see a bump in followers, our direct messages went bonkers.
We could start conversations with our customers by helping them come over and either get on our email list or make a sale. And I felt like that was such a win-win. Because all nine business owners could use their traffic to help everybody grow on a larger scale.
#3: Grow Your Email List
I have a student who has been growing her business on Shopify and building her email list. After listening to Vina Howell's podcast on how she grew $20,000 in a month, she decided to open up an Etsy store.
She wrote an email and said, “Hey, why don't you go check out my new Etsy store.” She sent a whole bunch of traffic over to Etsy, did over $6,000 in sales on Etsy, and got over 200 reviews. And that triggered the Etsy algorithm to start showing her products to other people, and she is now consistently making sales.
So grow your email list, and then start leveraging it to help you to make sales on other platforms.
#4: Thank You, Google!
Google products have been an absolute lifesaver for me in business and such an asset as a marketing technique!
How many times have you been on Instagram or trying to post for Instagram and can't find the right picture? I've got a solution! If you push a picture of your head, it will pull up every single picture of your face in your photo album. It is the craziest, creepiest, coolest, most time-management-saving thing I've ever used.
I used Google Photos when I took THOUSANDS of photos in China at various manufacturers, and it's also been super helpful at helping me just post more content of ME and building the confidence to do it. I can't thank Google enough!
#5: Manifestation
I'm not talking about the woo-woo kind of manifestation. I'm talking about writing down what your goals are so that God knows what to deliver to you! You've got to let it out there. I have been doing it for years. And it's fun to see what I've been able to accomplish and super motivating to push for the things I want!
I hope these five marketing techniques give you the confidence you need to get moving in 2021. Your business and customers are WAITING for you. So get out there and start serving and let me know what other marketing techniques are vital in your business!
